The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has clarified that it has not yet started lifting oil products from the Dangote Refinery. According to IPMAN, discussions are still ongoing with the management of the refinery to allow its members to directly lift oil products from the facility.
This clarification came amidst reports suggesting that IPMAN members had raised concerns about being excluded from directly purchasing oil from the Dangote Refinery. These reports claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had an exclusive offtake agreement with the refinery, limiting access for other marketers.
However, Abubakar Maigandi, the Chairman of IPMAN, dismissed these claims in a recent interview with BBC Hausa. He confirmed that the NNPCL is still the sole offtaker of oil products from the Dangote Refinery and that IPMAN members are currently only involved in the retailing of products sourced through the NNPCL.
Maigandi emphasized that while there have been ongoing negotiations between IPMAN and the Dangote Refinery, there is no official confirmation that the NNPCL has ceased its exclusive role in purchasing oil from the refinery.
“As I speak to you, there is no official confirmation that the NNPCL has ceased its role as a middleman in purchasing oil from the refinery,” Maigandi said.
He further explained that the NNPCL recently requested that IPMAN send its tankers to the refinery for oil lifting, a process which the association complied with. “They also submitted our waybills to the refinery,” Maigandi added, confirming that IPMAN’s operations remain under the purview of NNPCL’s intermediary role.
Despite the current arrangement, IPMAN is hopeful that direct access to oil products from the Dangote Refinery will eventually be granted to its members. Maigandi stated that the union is actively engaging in discussions with the leadership of the Dangote Refinery in hopes of reaching an agreement.
At this stage, however, IPMAN members must continue to source oil through the NNPCL, as the refinery’s exclusive offtake agreement remains in place. “At this time, we cannot buy oil directly from Dangote; we must purchase it from NNPCL,” Maigandi clarified.
He reiterated that no official announcement has been made by the government regarding the removal of NNPCL as the intermediary in the oil offtake process, but discussions aimed at enabling IPMAN members to lift oil directly from the refinery are progressing.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has long played a central role in the country’s oil industry, serving as both a producer and marketer of petroleum products.
With the Dangote Refinery set to become the largest oil refinery in Africa, the NNPCL’s exclusive offtake agreement has attracted significant attention from industry stakeholders.
The agreement allows NNPCL to control the distribution of refined products from the refinery, while other marketers like IPMAN are left to operate within a retail capacity. This arrangement has sparked debates about competition and access within the petroleum marketing sector.
Reports that the NNPCL’s exclusive agreement could come to an end have raised hopes that independent marketers will be able to purchase oil products directly from the Dangote Refinery, without relying on the NNPCL as a middleman.
The Dangote Refinery, a $19 billion project, is the largest single-train refinery in the world and is expected to revolutionize Nigeria’s oil industry by significantly reducing the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
The refinery, which has a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is also expected to boost Nigeria’s domestic supply of refined petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel.
With Nigeria currently importing a large portion of its fuel despite being one of the world’s largest oil producers, the Dangote Refinery is seen as a crucial solution to the country’s fuel supply challenges.
The refinery is also expected to reduce Nigeria’s foreign exchange expenditure on fuel imports, as well as create jobs and stimulate economic growth across the value chain.
However, for independent marketers like IPMAN, gaining access to refined products from the Dangote Refinery is essential to expanding their market share and ensuring a more competitive oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
